Automobile data transmission of encrypted data to a server via a base station

ABSTRACT

An automobile device transmits data to a server in a communication network. The automobile device records the data received from one or more transmitters located in an automobile. The automobile device transmits a random access preamble on an uplink carrier to a base station when a pre-defined condition is met. The automobile device encrypts the data and transmits the encrypted data to a server via a base station.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/827,326,filed Aug. 16, 2015, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.14/622,970, filed Feb. 16, 2015, which is a continuation of applicationSer. No. 13/479,126, filed May 23, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,989,089,which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/525,096,filed Aug. 18, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described hereinwith reference to the drawings, in which:

Examples of several of the various embodiments of the present inventionare described herein with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting example sets of OFDM subcarriers as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting an example transmission time and receptiontime for two carriers as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting OFDM radio resources as per an aspect ofan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a base station and a wireless device as peran aspect of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of system for transmitting automobile dataover a multicarrier OFDM radio as per an aspect of an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 depicts message flows between a base station and an automobiledevice as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an encryption mechanism as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Example embodiments of the present invention employ a wireless devicefor automobile data transmission. Embodiments of the technologydisclosed herein may be employed in the technical field of automobiledata transmission. More particularly, the embodiments of the technologydisclosed herein may relate to enhancing automobile data transmissionusing wireless communication systems.

Example embodiments of the invention may be implemented using variousphysical layer modulation and transmission mechanisms. Exampletransmission mechanisms may include, but are not limited to: CDMA (codedivision multiple access), OFDM (orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing), TDMA (time division multiple access), Wavelettechnologies, and/or the like. Hybrid transmission mechanisms such asTDMA/CDMA, and OFDM/CDMA may also be employed. Various modulationschemes may be applied for signal transmission in the physical layer.Examples of modulation schemes include, but are not limited to: phase,amplitude, code, a combination of these, and/or the like. An exampleradio transmission method may implement QAM (quadrature amplitudemodulation) using BPSK (binary phase shift keying), QPSK (quadraturephase shift keying), 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, and/or the like. Physicalradio transmission may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamicallychanging the modulation and coding scheme depending on transmissionrequirements and radio conditions.

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting example sets of OFDM subcarriers as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in thisexample, arrow(s) in the diagram may depict a subcarrier in amulticarrier OFDM system. The OFDM system may use technology such asOFDM technology, SC-OFDM (single carrier-OFDM) technology, or the like.For example, arrow 101 shows a subcarrier transmitting informationsymbols. FIG. 1 is for illustration purposes, and a typical multicarrierOFDM system may include more subcarriers in a carrier. For example, thenumber of subcarriers in a carrier may be in the range of 10 to 10,000subcarriers. FIG. 1 shows two guard bands 106 and 107 in a transmissionband. As illustrated in FIG. 1, guard band 106 is between subcarriers103 and subcarriers 104. The example set of subcarriers A 102 includessubcarriers 103 and subcarriers 104. FIG. 1 also illustrates an exampleset of subcarriers B 105. As illustrated, there is no guard band betweenany two subcarriers in the example set of subcarriers B 105. Carriers ina multicarrier OFDM communication system may be contiguous carriers,non-contiguous carriers, or a combination of both contiguous andnon-contiguous carriers.

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting an example transmission time and receptiontime for two carriers as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentinvention. A multicarrier OFDM communication system may include one ormore carriers, for example, ranging from 1 to 10 carriers. Carrier A 204and carrier B 205 may have the same or different timing structures.Although FIG. 2 shows two synchronized carriers, carrier A 204 andcarrier B 205 may or may not be synchronized with each other. Differentradio frame structures may be supported for FDD (frequency divisionduplex) and TDD (time division duplex) duplex mechanisms. FIG. 2 showsan example FDD frame timing. Downlink and uplink transmissions may beorganized into radio frames 201. In this example, radio frame durationis 10 msec. Other frame durations, for example, in the range of 1 to 100msec may also be supported. In this example, each 10 ms radio frame 201may be divided into ten equally sized sub-frames 202. Other subframedurations such as including 0.5 msec, 1 msec, 2 msec, and 5 msec mayalso be supported. Sub-frame(s) may consist of two or more slots 206.For the example of FDD, 10 subframes may be available for downlinktransmission and 10 subframes may be available for uplink transmissionsin each 10 ms interval. Uplink and downlink transmissions may beseparated in the frequency domain. Slot(s) may include a plurality ofOFDM symbols 203. The number of OFDM symbols 203 in a slot 206 maydepend on the cyclic prefix length and subcarrier spacing.

In an example case of TDD, uplink and downlink transmissions may beseparated in the time domain. According to some of the various aspectsof embodiments, each 10 ms radio frame may include two half-frames of 5ms each. Half-frame(s) may include eight slots of length 0.5 ms andthree special fields: DwPTS (Downlink Pilot Time Slot), GP (GuardPeriod) and UpPTS (Uplink Pilot Time Slot). The length of DwPTS andUpPTS may be configurable subject to the total length of DwPTS, GP andUpPTS being equal to 1 ms. Both 5 ms and 10 ms switch-point periodicitymay be supported. In an example, subframe 1 in all configurations andsubframe 6 in configurations with 5 ms switch-point periodicity mayinclude DwPTS, GP and UpPTS. Subframe 6 in configurations with 10 msswitch-point periodicity may include DwPTS. Other subframes may includetwo equally sized slots. For this TDD example, GP may be employed fordownlink to uplink transition. Other subframes/fields may be assignedfor either downlink or uplink transmission. Other frame structures inaddition to the above two frame structures may also be supported, forexample in one example embodiment the frame duration may be selecteddynamically based on the packet sizes.

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting OFDM radio resources as per an aspect ofan embodiment of the present invention. The resource grid structure intime 304 and frequency 305 is illustrated in FIG. 3. The quantity ofdownlink subcarriers or resource blocks (RB) (in this example 6 to 100RBs) may depend, at least in part, on the downlink transmissionbandwidth 306 configured in the cell. The smallest radio resource unitmay be called a resource element (e.g. 301). Resource elements may begrouped into resource blocks (e.g. 302). Resource blocks may be groupedinto larger radio resources called Resource Block Groups (RBG) (e.g.303). The transmitted signal in slot 206 may be described by one orseveral resource grids of a plurality of subcarriers and a plurality ofOFDM symbols. Resource blocks may be used to describe the mapping ofcertain physical channels to resource elements. Other pre-definedgroupings of physical resource elements may be implemented in the systemdepending on the radio technology. For example, 24 subcarriers may begrouped as a radio block for a duration of 5 msec.

Physical and virtual resource blocks may be defined. A physical resourceblock may be defined as N consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domainand M consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain, wherein M and Nare integers. A physical resource block may include M×N resourceelements. In an illustrative example, a resource block may correspond toone slot in the time domain and 180 kHz in the frequency domain (for 15KHz subcarrier bandwidth and 12 subcarriers). A virtual resource blockmay be of the same size as a physical resource block. Various types ofvirtual resource blocks may be defined (e.g. virtual resource blocks oflocalized type and virtual resource blocks of distributed type). Forvarious types of virtual resource blocks, a pair of virtual resourceblocks over two slots in a subframe may be assigned together by a singlevirtual resource block number. Virtual resource blocks of localized typemay be mapped directly to physical resource blocks such that sequentialvirtual resource block k corresponds to physical resource block k.Alternatively, virtual resource blocks of distributed type may be mappedto physical resource blocks according to a predefined table or apredefined formula. Various configurations for radio resources may besupported under an OFDM framework, for example, a resource block may bedefined as including the subcarriers in the entire band for an allocatedtime duration.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, an antenna portmay be defined such that the channel over which a symbol on the antennaport is conveyed may be inferred from the channel over which anothersymbol on the same antenna port is conveyed. In some embodiments, theremay be one resource grid per antenna port. The set of antenna port(s)supported may depend on the reference signal configuration in the cell.Cell-specific reference signals may support a configuration of one, two,or four antenna port(s) and may be transmitted on antenna port(s) {0},{0, 1}, and {0, 1, 2, 3}, respectively. Multicast-broadcast referencesignals may be transmitted on antenna port 4. Wireless device-specificreference signals may be transmitted on antenna port(s) 5, 7, 8, or oneor several of ports {7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14}. Positioning referencesignals may be transmitted on antenna port 6. Channel state information(CSI) reference signals may support a configuration of one, two, four oreight antenna port(s) and may be transmitted on antenna port(s) 15, {15,16}, {15, . . . , 18} and {, . . . , 22}, respectively. Variousconfigurations for antenna configuration may be supported depending onthe number of antennas and the capability of the wireless devices andwireless base stations.

According to some embodiments, a radio resource framework using OFDMtechnology may be employed. Alternative embodiments may be implementedemploying other radio technologies. Example transmission mechanismsinclude, but are not limited to: CDMA, OFDM, TDMA, Wavelet technologies,and/or the like. Hybrid transmission mechanisms such as TDMA/CDMA, andOFDM/CDMA may also be employed.

FIG. 4 is an example block diagram of a base station 401 and a wirelessdevice 406, as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention.A communication network 400 may include at least one base station 401and at least one wireless device 406. The base station 401 may includeat least one communication interface 402, at least one processor 403,and at least one set of program code instructions 405 stored innon-transitory memory 404 and executable by the at least one processor403. The wireless device 406 may include at least one communicationinterface 407, at least one processor 408, and at least one set ofprogram code instructions 410 stored in non-transitory memory 409 andexecutable by the at least one processor 408. Communication interface402 in base station 401 may be configured to engage in communicationwith communication interface 407 in wireless device 406 via acommunication path that includes at least one wireless link 411.Wireless link 411 may be a bi-directional link. Communication interface407 in wireless device 406 may also be configured to engage in acommunication with communication interface 402 in base station 401. Basestation 401 and wireless device 406 may be configured to send andreceive data over wireless link 411 using multiple frequency carriers.According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, transceiver(s)may be employed. A transceiver is a device that includes both atransmitter and receiver. Transceivers may be employed in devices suchas wireless devices, base stations, relay nodes, and/or the like.Example embodiments for radio technology implemented in communicationinterface 402, 407 and wireless link 411 are illustrated are FIG. 1,FIG. 2, and FIG. 3. and associated text.

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram depicting a system for transmittingdata traffic generated by a wireless device 502 to a server 508 over amulticarrier OFDM radio according to one aspect of the illustrativeembodiments. As shown, the system includes at its core a WirelessCellular Network/Internet Network 507, which may function to provideconnectivity between one or more wireless devices 502 (e.g., a cellphone, PDA, or other wirelessly-equipped device), and one or moreservers 508, such as multimedia server, application servers, emailservers, or database servers.

It should be understood, however, that this and other arrangementsdescribed herein are set forth for purposes of example only. As such,those skilled in the art will appreciate that other arrangements andother elements (e.g., machines, interfaces, functions, orders offunctions, etc.) can be used instead, some elements may be added, andsome elements may be omitted altogether. Further, as in mosttelecommunications applications, those skilled in the art willappreciate that many of the elements described herein are functionalentities that may be implemented as discrete or distributed componentsor in conjunction with other components, and in any suitable combinationand location. Still further, various functions described herein as beingperformed by one or more entities may be carried out by hardware,firmware and/or software logic. For instance, various functions may becarried out by a processor executing a set of machine languageinstructions stored in memory.

As shown, the access network may include a plurality of base stations503-504. Each base station 503-504 of the access network may function totransmit and receive RF radiation 505-506 at one or more carrierfrequencies, and the RF radiation may then provide one or more airinterfaces over which the wireless device 502 may communicate with thebase stations 503-504. The automobile 501 may use the wireless device toreceive data and control information from the base station or theserver. The wireless device 502 may include applications to enable thefunctions described in the example embodiments. In another exampleembodiment, the wireless device 502 may automatically send traffic to aserver 508 without direct involvement of a user.

Each of the one or more base stations 503-504 may define a correspondingwireless coverage area. The RF radiation 505-506 of the base stations503-504 may carry communications between the Wireless CellularNetwork/Internet Network 507 and access device 502 according to any of avariety of protocols. For example, RF radiation 505-506 may carrycommunications according to WiMAX (e.g., IEEE 802.16), LTE, microwave,satellite, MMDS, Wi-Fi (e.g., IEEE 802.11), Bluetooth, infrared, andother protocols now known or later developed. The communication betweenthe wireless device 502 and the server 508 may be enabled by anynetworking and transport technology for example TCP/IP, RTP, RTCP, HTTPor any other networking protocol.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, an LTE networkmay include many base stations, providing a user plane (PDCP: packetdata convergence protocol/RLC: radio link control/MAC: media accesscontrol/PHY: physical) and control plane (RRC: radio resource control)protocol terminations towards the wireless device. The base station(s)may be interconnected with other base station(s) by means of an X2interface. The base stations may also be connected by means of an S1interface to an EPC (Evolved Packet Core). For example, the basestations may be interconnected to the MME (Mobility Management Entity)by means of the S1-MME interface and to the Serving Gateway (S-GW) bymeans of the S1-U interface. The S1 interface may support a many-to-manyrelation between MMEs/Serving Gateways and base stations. A base stationmay include many sectors for example: 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6 sectors. A basestation may include many cells, for example, ranging from 1 to 50 cellsor more. A cell may be categorized, for example, as a primary cell orsecondary cell. When carrier aggregation is configured, a wirelessdevice may have one RRC connection with the network. At RRC connectionestablishment/re-establishment/handover, one serving cell may providethe NAS (non-access stratum) mobility information (e.g. TAI-trackingarea identifier), and at RRC connection re-establishment/handover, oneserving cell may provide the security input. This cell may be referredto as the Primary Cell (PCell). In the downlink, the carriercorresponding to the PCell may be the Downlink Primary Component Carrier(DL PCC), while in the uplink, it may be the Uplink Primary ComponentCarrier (UL PCC). Depending on wireless device capabilities, SecondaryCells (SCells) may be configured to form together with the PCell a setof serving cells. In the downlink, the carrier corresponding to an SCellmay be a Downlink Secondary Component Carrier (DL SCC), while in theuplink, it may be an Uplink Secondary Component Carrier (UL SCC). AnSCell may or may not have an uplink carrier.

Embodiments may be configured to operate as needed. The disclosedmechanism may be performed when certain criteria are met, for example,in wireless device, base station, radio environment, network, acombination of the above, and/or the like. Example criteria may bebased, at least in part, on for example, traffic load, initial systemset up, packet sizes, traffic characteristics, a combination of theabove, and/or the like. When the one or more criteria are met, theexample embodiments may be applied. Therefore, it may be possible toimplement example embodiments that selectively implement disclosedprotocols.

Example embodiments of the invention may process and/or transmitautomobile data. Other example embodiments may comprise a non-transitorytangible computer readable media comprising instructions executable byone or more processors to cause processing and/or transmissionautomobile data. Yet other example embodiments may comprise an articleof manufacture that comprises a non-transitory tangible computerreadable machine-accessible medium having instructions encoded thereonfor enabling programmable hardware to cause a device (e.g. wirelesscommunicator, UE, base station, etc.) to process and/or transmitautomobile data. The device may include processors, memory, interfaces,and/or the like. Other example embodiments may comprise an automobilecomprising devices such as wireless devices, sensors, processors and/orthe like.

In an example embodiment of the invention, a device for monitoringand/or transmission of automobile data to a server in a communicationnetwork comprises at least one communication interface, at least oneprocessor, and memory storing instructions that, when executed, causethe device to perform certain functions. The device may store theautomobile data obtained from a plurality of sensors installed in theautomobile. The device may store a network address of the server, and anetwork address of the device.

FIG. 6 depicts message flows between a base station 602 and anautomobile device 601 according to an exemplary embodiment. The device601 may transmit a random access preamble 603 on a first plurality ofsubcarriers of an uplink carrier to a base station, when a pre-definedcondition is met. The pre-defined condition may be based on at least oneof the following: automobile data collected from the plurality ofsensors, the current time, a user input, and/or the like. Thetransmission timing of the random access preamble may be determinedbased on a synchronization signal received from the base station. Thedevice 601 may receive at least one time alignment command 604 from thebase station 602 in response to transmitting the random access preamble.The time alignment command may substantially align frame and subframereception timing of the uplink carrier at the base station. The devicemay adjust the uplink signal transmission timing of the uplink carrieraccording to the time alignment command.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the device mayestablish a signaling bearer 605 and a non-GBR bearer 606. The devicemay receive an Internet protocol address from the base station, over asecond plurality of OFDM subcarriers of a downlink carrier. In anotherexample, the device may be preconfigured with an Internet protocoladdress. The downlink carrier may correspond to the uplink carrier. TheInternet address may be encrypted using a second encryption key. Thedevice may encrypt the automobile data using a first encryption key andtransmit the encrypted automobile data 607 to the base station. The basestation may decrypt the automobile data before forwarding it to theserver.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, automobile dataobtained from a plurality of sensors installed in an automobile may berecorded and time stamped. The wireless device may transmit a randomaccess preamble on a first plurality of OFDM subcarriers of an uplinkcarrier to a base station when a pre-defined condition is met. Thepre-defined condition may be based, at least in part, on at least one ofthe following: the automobile data, the current time, and a user input,and/or the like. The wireless device may transmit a first messagedestined for a server in a communication network to the base stationover a non-GBR bearer. The first message may be encrypted using a firstencryption key. The first message may be configured to cause or triggerestablishment of a connection to the server. The wireless device mayreceive a second message originating from the server from the basestation over the non-GBR bearer. The second message may be configured tocause the start of transmission of the automobile data from the wirelessdevice to the server. The second message may be encrypted using a secondencryption key. The wireless device may encrypt the automobile datausing the first encryption key. The wireless device may transmit theencrypted automobile data to the base station. The base station may beconfigured to decrypt the automobile data before forwarding theautomobile data to the server.

The automobile could be one of a motorcycle, a car, a train, a bus, atruck, and/or the like. The automobile data may further comprise a timestamp when the data is obtained. The plurality of sensors may monitorautomobile conditions and operator's actions including at least one of aspeed, a brake action, a travelled distance, an automobile condition, anautomobile location, and/or the like. The plurality of sensors may alsomonitor the environmental parameters of the environment of the vehiclecurrent location. The automobile location may be calculated using GlobalPositioning System technology. The automobile location could be receivedfrom a navigation system installed in the automobile. The plurality ofsensors may monitor automobile conditions and operator's actionscomprising at least one of a tire air pressure, an engine condition, anautomobile fluid condition, a temperature, a type of road driven, asafety equipment status, and/or the like.

The plurality of sensors may monitor automobile conditions andoperator's actions comprising automobile environmental parameterscomprising at least one of an environment temperature, an environmentalchemical parameter, an environmental nuclear parameter, an environmenthumidity, an environment electromagnetic density, an environmentparticle density, and/or the like. The plurality of parameters obtainedfrom a plurality of sensors may comprise information entered by a useroperating the automobile using an input console. At least a part of theautomobile data may be received via a short range wireless technology,or all the automobile data may be received via a short range wirelesstechnology. The device may be connected to the automobile via aconnector. The automobile data may be communicated to the device via anon-board computer. The device may use the electrical power provided byat least one battery installed in the automobile. The device may haveits own battery, and may receive the automobile data via a short rangewireless technology.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the networkaddress of the server and the network address of the device may bepre-configured in the device. The pre-defined condition may beconfigurable by a user operating the automobile. The pre-definedcondition may be met if the value of a parameter in the plurality ofparameters exceeds certain threshold. The pre-defined condition may bemet when the automobile engine is turned off, or when the automobile isturned off, or when the automobile engine is turned on, or when theautomobile is turned on, and/or according to the value of an internaltimer. Other conditions may also be possible.

The synchronization signal may comprise a primary synchronization signaland a secondary synchronization signal on the downlink carrier. Thesynchronization signal may indicate a physical cell ID for a cellcomprising the downlink carrier and provide timing information for thedownlink carrier. The synchronization signal may be transmitted by thebase station using a third plurality of OFDM subcarriers substantiallyin the center of the frequency band of the downlink carrier on the firstand sixth subframe of each frame. Random access parameters may bereceived from the base station. The parameters could be used forgenerating the random access preamble.

The automobile data could be encrypted using a first encryption key andan additional parameter that changes substantially rapidly over time.FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an encryption mechanism accordingto an exemplary embodiment. Data and control packets are encrypted usingEPS encryption algorithm. The encryption algorithm input parameters mayinclude a key, hyper frame number, sequence number, bearer identity,uplink or downlink direction parameter, or packet length. For examplesystem frame number is the parameter that changes substantially rapidlyover time. Substantially rapidly means the parameter may change with aperiod in the range of 1 s, 10 s or 100 msec. The control packets mayalso use an integrity mechanism that uses at least one of theseparameters in the integrity checksum calculation process.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the non-GBRbearer could be a default bearer with no guaranteed minimum bit rate orwith a guaranteed minimum bit rate. The non-GBR bearer may be a defaultbearer, and may be assigned a maximum allowed transmission rate. Acontrol message, for example, an RRC establishment message may bereceived on a first data channel on the downlink carrier beforeestablishing the non-GBR bearer. The control message, for example RRCestablishment message, may establish a first signaling bearer. The firstsignaling bearer may be established on the downlink carrier and theuplink carrier. A security context may be established with the basestation using the first signaling bearer.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the basestation may receive the Internet protocol address from another networknode. A first message to the server may be transmitted over the non-GBRbearer. The first message is encrypted using a first encryption key. Thefirst message triggers establishing a connection with the server. Asecond message from the server may be received over the non-GBR bearer.The second message could trigger start of transmission of the automobiledata from the device to the server. The second message may be encryptedusing the second encryption key. The automobile data could be encryptedusing a first encryption key and an additional parameter that changessubstantially rapidly over time.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the server mayinclude a plurality of server computers. The server could be adistributed server or a server farm. Transmitting the encryptedautomobile data could comprise transmitting a plurality of data packets,such as MAC layer data packets. Transmitting the plurality of datapackets could comprise transmitting each of the plurality of datapackets in two parts. A first part is transmitted on a fourth pluralityof subcarriers in a first time period, and a second part is transmittedon a fifth plurality of subcarriers in a second time period. All or atleast one of the following constraints may apply: a) the first timeperiod and the second time period do not overlap, b) the fourthplurality of subcarriers and fifth plurality of subcarriers aredifferent, and c) the fourth plurality of subcarriers consists of aplurality of contiguous subcarriers, and the fifth plurality ofsubcarriers consists of a plurality of contiguous subcarriers. The basestation may forward the automobile data comprising a plurality of datamessages using Internet protocol. The base station may add a header toeach message in the plurality of data messages. The header may includethe IP address of the base station and an IP address of an intermediatenode between the base station and the server.

The server may analyze the automobile data to determine a risk factorfor the automobile, a possible issue with the automobile, or a requiredservice for the automobile. The server could analyze the automobile datato determine at least one of the following for at least one driverdriving the automobile: a risk factor, a driving habit, or a discountplan. The server analyzes the automobile data to determine at least oneof the following for the environment the automobile was driven: a)environmental hazards or alerts, b) environment behavior, and c)environmental risks. The server may receive automobile data from aplurality of devices, wherein each device may be installed in adifferent automobile, or multiple devices may be installed in the sameautomobile. The server may analyze automobile data from the plurality ofdevices to determine a parameter related to a plurality of drivers, aparameter related to the plurality of automobiles, or a parameterrelated to an environment. The server may provide access to at least asummary of the automobile data to a user via Internet. The server couldencrypt the at least a summary of the automobile data beforetransmitting the data to a user computer via Internet. In anotherexample embodiment, an automobile is considered including the device asdescribed in the above examples. An automobile including the device maybe implemented or manufactured, wherein the device receives theautomobile data or at least a part of the automobile data via a shortrange wireless technology.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, a device formonitoring and transmission of automobile data to a server in acommunication network is implemented. The device may comprise at leastone communication interface, at least one processor, and memory storinginstructions that, when executed, cause the device to perform certainfunctions. The device may record the automobile data comprising aplurality of parameters obtained from a plurality of sensors installedin the automobile and the time the plurality of parameters are obtained.The device may store a network address of the server, and a networkaddress of the device. The device may transmit a random access preambleon a first plurality of OFDM subcarriers of an uplink carrier to a basestation, when a pre-defined condition is met. The pre-defined conditionmay be based on at least one of the following: the automobile datacollected from the plurality of sensors, current time, a user input,and/or the like. The device may establish a non-GBR bearer. The devicemay receive an Internet protocol address from the base station, over asecond plurality of OFDM subcarriers of a downlink carrier. The downlinkcarrier may correspond to the uplink carrier. The Internet address maybe encrypted using a second encryption key. In another example, theInternet protocol address may be pre-configured in the device. Thedevice may transmit a first message to the server over the non-GBRbearer. The first message may encrypt using a first encryption key. Thefirst message may trigger a connection to the server. The device mayreceive a second message from the server over the non-GBR bearer. Thesecond message could trigger start of transmission of automobile datafrom the device to the server. The second message could be encryptedusing the second encryption key. The device may encrypt the automobiledata using the first encryption key and may transmit the encryptedautomobile data to the base station. The base station could decrypt theautomobile data before forwarding it to the server.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, a device formonitoring and transmission of automobile data to a server in acommunication network may comprise at least one communication interface,at least one processor, and memory storing instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the device to perform certain functions. The device mayrecord the automobile data comprising a plurality of parameters obtainedfrom a plurality of sensors installed in the automobile. The device maystore a network address of the server, and a network address of thedevice. The device may transmit a random access preamble on a firstplurality of subcarriers of an uplink carrier to a base station. Therandom access preamble may be transmitted according to an internaldecision process in the device, which could be implementation specific.For example, the random access preamble may be transmitted when apre-defined condition is met based on the automobile data collected fromthe plurality of sensors, current time, a user input, and/or the like.The random access preamble transmission may be triggered for otherreasons including factors related to radio link parameters, networkrelated parameters, automobile related parameters, environmentparameters, or user/factory pre-defined parameters. The device mayestablish a non-GBR bearer and receive an Internet address from the basestation, over a second plurality of OFDM subcarriers of a downlinkcarrier. The downlink carrier may correspond to the uplink carrier. TheInternet address is encrypted using a second encryption key. The devicemay encrypt the automobile data using a first encryption key andtransmitting the encrypted automobile data to the base station. The basestation could decrypt the automobile data before forwarding it to theserver.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, an apparatusfor transmission of automobile data to the wireless device may compriseat least one communication interface, at least one processor, and memorystoring instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus to performcertain functions. The apparatus may record the automobile data obtainedfrom a plurality of sensors installed in the automobile. The apparatusmay transmit the automobile data via a short range wireless technologyto the wireless device.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, an apparatusfor transmission of automobile data to the wireless device may compriseat least one communication interface, at least one processor, and memorystoring instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus to performcertain functions. The apparatus may record the automobile datacomprising a plurality of parameters obtained from a plurality ofsensors installed in the automobile. The apparatus may transmit theautomobile data via a short range wireless technology to the wirelessdevice. The wireless device may establish a connection with a remoteserver, and may transmits at least a part of the automobile datareceived from the apparatus via a wireless technology. The apparatus maybe a part of an automobile, or may be connected to a connector in theautomobile, or be an stand-alone apparatus.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, an apparatusfor transmission of automobile data to the wireless device may compriseat least one communication interface, at least one processor, and memorystoring instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus to performcertain functions. The apparatus may record the automobile datacomprising a plurality of parameters obtained from a plurality ofsensors installed in the automobile. The apparatus may receive a requestmessage from the wireless device to establish a connection. Theapparatus may transmit a response message to the wireless device. Theresponse message may establish the connection. The apparatus maytransmit the automobile data via a short range wireless technology tothe wireless device using the connection. The apparatus may be a part ofan automobile, or may be connected to a connector in the automobile, orbe an stand-alone apparatus.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, at least twotypes of networks may be defined for short range wireless (SRW)technology: Ad-hoc and client/server. The Ad-hoc network is a networkwhere communications may be established between multiple stations in agiven coverage area without the use of an access point or server. Theetiquette may be specified that each station may observe so that allunits have fair access to the wireless media. Methods for arbitratingrequests could be specified to use the media to enable that throughputis maximized for all of the users in the base service set. Theclient/server network may use an access point that controls theallocation of transmit time for stations and may allow mobile stationsto roam from cell to cell. The access point may be used to handletraffic from the mobile radio to the wired or wireless backbone of theclient/server network. This arrangement allows for point coordination ofall the stations in the basic service area and ensures proper handlingof the data traffic. The access point routes data between the stationsand other wireless stations or to and from the network server. SRW mayuse the ad-hoc mode. This may mean that a station may give other unitsfair access to the wireless media. SRW may also use the client/servermode.

Functionally, three core protocols may be implemented. The logical linkcontrol and adaptation protocol (L2CAP), the service discovery protocol(SDP) and the RFCOMM protocol. L2CAP, which may adapt upper layerprotocols over the baseband, may provide data services to the high layerprotocols with protocol multiplexing capability, segmentation andreassembly operations, and group abstractions. Device information,services and the characteristics of the services may be queried usingthe SDP. Like SDP, RFCOMM may be layered on top of the L2CAP. As a cablereplacement protocol, RFCOMM may provide transport capabilities forhigh-level services (e.g. OBEX protocol) that may use serial line as thetransport mechanism. The SRW air interface may be based on a nominalantenna power of for example, 0 dBm. Spectrum spreading may be added tofacilitate optional operation at power levels up to 100 mW worldwide.This may be accomplished by frequency hopping.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, at least 2types of physical links may be defined: SCO (SynchronousConnection-Oriented), and ACL (Asynchronous Connection-Less). The SCOlink may be point-to-point between master and slave. The master maymaintain the link by using reserved timeslots at regular intervals.Packet retransmissions may not be allowed. ACL may providepacket-switched connections between the master and all active slaves.Packet retransmissions may be applied to assure data integrity. SRW usesfrequency hopping in timeslots. SRW has been designed to operate innoisy radio frequency environments, and uses a fast acknowledgement anda frequency-hopping scheme to make the communications link robust,communication-wise. SRW radio may avoid interference from other signalsby hopping to a new frequency after transmitting or receiving a packet.

Compared with other systems operating in the same frequency band, theSRW radio may hop faster and may use shorter packets. Short packages andfast hopping may limit the impact of other sources of disturbances. Useof Forward Error Correction (FEC) may limit the impact of random noiseon long-distance links. Software controls and identity coding built intoeach microchip may ensure that those units preset by their owners couldcommunicate.

SRW may work in an ad-hoc fashion, and communication may be donevis-a-vi the Master unit. There may not be a direct communicationbetween slave units. It may not be intended for the Master to routemessages between slave units. If slave units find that they want to talkdirectly to each other, they may form a new piconet, with one of themacting as Master. This may not mean that they have to leave the previouspiconet. More likely, they may be parked in the old net unless theydecide to quit the old net altogether. Reconfiguration in SRW may bedynamic.

The SRW baseband protocol may be a combination of circuit and packetswitching. Time slots could be reserved for synchronous packets. Afrequency hop may be done for each packet that is transmitted. A packetnominally covers a single time slot, but may be extended to cover up tofive slots. SRW could support an asynchronous data channel, or up to 3simultaneous synchronous voice channels, or a channel whichsimultaneously supports asynchronous data and synchronous voice.

A piconet may be created in one of different ways: a page (used byMaster to connect to Slave), a page scan (a unit listens for its' deviceaccess code), a Master—Slave switch may be made, An “Unpark” of a unitmay be made (provided there are no active slaves). In order to establishnew connections the procedures inquiry and paging may be used. Theinquiry procedure may enable a unit to discover which units are inrange, and what their device addresses and clocks are. With the pagingprocedure, an actual connection could be established. The SRW deviceaddress may be required to set up a connection. Knowledge about theclock would accelerate the setup procedure. A unit that establishes aconnection would carry out a page procedure and would automaticallybecome the master of the connection.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, for the pagingprocess, several paging schemes may be applied. A paging scheme may besupported by each SRW device. This scheme is used when units meet forthe first time, and in case the paging process directly follows theinquiry process. Two units, once connected using a paging/scanningscheme, may agree on an optional paging/scanning scheme. After thepaging procedure, the master may poll the slave by sending Poll or Nullpackets, to which the slave responds. LMP (link manager protocol)procedures that may not require any interactions between the LM and thehost at the paged unit's side could then be carried out. When the pagingdevice wishes to create a connection involving layers above LM, it sendsLMP_host_connection_req. When the other side receives this message, thehost is informed about the incoming connection. The remote device couldaccept or reject the connection request by sending LMP_accepted orLMP_not_accepted. When a device does not require any further link set-upprocedures, it may send LMP_setup_complete. The device may respond torequests from the other device. When the other device is also ready withlink set-up, it may send LMP_setup_complete. After this, the firstpacket on a logical channel different from LMP may then be transmitted.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the packets inthe downlink may be transmitted via downlink physical channels. Thecarrying packets in the uplink may be transmitted via uplink physicalchannels. The baseband data representing a downlink physical channel maybe defined in terms of at least one of the following actions: scramblingof coded bits in codewords to be transmitted on a physical channel;modulation of scrambled bits to generate complex-valued modulationsymbols; mapping of the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one orseveral transmission layers; precoding of the complex-valued modulationsymbols on layer(s) for transmission on the antenna port(s); mapping ofcomplex-valued modulation symbols for antenna port(s) to resourceelements; and/or generation of complex-valued time-domain OFDM signal(s)for antenna port(s).

Codeword, transmitted on the physical channel in one subframe, may bescrambled prior to modulation, resulting in a block of scrambled bits.The scrambling sequence generator may be initialized at the start ofsubframe(s). Codeword(s) may be modulated using QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM,128QAM, and/or the like resulting in a block of complex-valuedmodulation symbols. The complex-valued modulation symbols for codewordsto be transmitted may be mapped onto one or several layers. Fortransmission on a single antenna port, a single layer may be used. Forspatial multiplexing, the number of layers may be less than or equal tothe number of antenna port(s) used for transmission of the physicalchannel. The case of a single codeword mapped to multiple layers may beapplicable when the number of cell-specific reference signals is four orwhen the number of UE-specific reference signals is two or larger. Fortransmit diversity, there may be one codeword and the number of layersmay be equal to the number of antenna port(s) used for transmission ofthe physical channel.

The precoder may receive a block of vectors from the layer mapping andgenerate a block of vectors to be mapped onto resources on the antennaport(s). Precoding for spatial multiplexing using antenna port(s) withcell-specific reference signals may be used in combination with layermapping for spatial multiplexing. Spatial multiplexing may support twoor four antenna ports and the set of antenna ports used may be {0,1} or{0, 1, 2, 3}. Precoding for transmit diversity may be used incombination with layer mapping for transmit diversity. The precodingoperation for transmit diversity may be defined for two and four antennaports. Precoding for spatial multiplexing using antenna ports withUE-specific reference signals may also, for example, be used incombination with layer mapping for spatial multiplexing. Spatialmultiplexing using antenna ports with UE-specific reference signals maysupport up to eight antenna ports. Reference signals may be pre-definedsignals that may be used by the receiver for decoding the receivedphysical signal, estimating the channel state, and/or other purposes.

For antenna port(s) used for transmission of the physical channel, theblock of complex-valued symbols may be mapped in sequence to resourceelements. In resource blocks in which UE-specific reference signals arenot transmitted the PDSCH may be transmitted on the same set of antennaports as the physical broadcast channel in the downlink (PBCH). Inresource blocks in which UE-specific reference signals are transmitted,the PDSCH may be transmitted, for example, on antenna port(s) {5, {7},{8}, or {7, 8, . . . , v+6}, where v is the number of layers used fortransmission of the PDSCH.

Common reference signal(s) may be transmitted in physical antennaport(s). Common reference signal(s) may be cell-specific referencesignal(s) (RS) used for demodulation and/or measurement purposes.Channel estimation accuracy using common reference signal(s) may bereasonable for demodulation (high RS density). Common referencesignal(s) may be defined for LTE technologies, LTE-advancedtechnologies, and/or the like. Demodulation reference signal(s) may betransmitted in virtual antenna port(s) (i.e., layer or stream). Channelestimation accuracy using demodulation reference signal(s) may bereasonable within allocated time/frequency resources. Demodulationreference signal(s) may be defined for LTE-advanced technology and maynot be applicable to LTE technology. Measurement reference signal(s),may also called CSI (channel state information) reference signal(s), maybe transmitted in physical antenna port(s) or virtualized antennaport(s). Measurement reference signal(s) may be Cell-specific RS usedfor measurement purposes. Channel estimation accuracy may be relativelylower than demodulation RS. CSI reference signal(s) may be defined forLTE-advanced technology and may not be applicable to LTE technology.

In at least one of the various embodiments, uplink physical channel(s)may correspond to a set of resource elements carrying informationoriginating from higher layers. The following example uplink physicalchannel(s) may be defined for uplink: a) Physical Uplink Shared Channel(PUSCH), b) Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), c) Physical RandomAccess Channel (PRACH), and/or the like. Uplink physical signal(s) maybe used by the physical layer and may not carry information originatingfrom higher layers. For example, reference signal(s) may be consideredas uplink physical signal(s). Transmitted signal(s) in slot(s) may bedescribed by one or several resource grids including, for example,subcarriers and SC-FDMA or OFDMA symbols. Antenna port(s) may be definedsuch that the channel over which symbol(s) on antenna port(s) may beconveyed and/or inferred from the channel over which other symbol(s) onthe same antenna port(s) is/are conveyed. There may be one resource gridper antenna port. The antenna port(s) used for transmission of physicalchannel(s) or signal(s) may depend on the number of antenna port(s)configured for the physical channel(s) or signal(s).

Element(s) in a resource grid may be called a resource element. Aphysical resource block may be defined as N consecutive SC-FDMA symbolsin the time domain and/or M consecutive subcarriers in the frequencydomain, wherein M and N may be pre-defined integer values. Physicalresource block(s) in uplink(s) may comprise of M×N resource elements.For example, a physical resource block may correspond to one slot in thetime domain and 180 kHz in the frequency domain. Baseband signal(s)representing the physical uplink shared channel may be defined in termsof: a) scrambling, b) modulation of scrambled bits to generatecomplex-valued symbols, c) mapping of complex-valued modulation symbolsonto one or several transmission layers, d) transform precoding togenerate complex-valued symbols, e) precoding of complex-valued symbols,f) mapping of precoded complex-valued symbols to resource elements, g)generation of complex-valued time-domain SC-FDMA signal(s) for antennaport(s), and/or the like.

For codeword(s), block(s) of bits may be scrambled with UE-specificscrambling sequence(s) prior to modulation, resulting in block(s) ofscrambled bits. Complex-valued modulation symbols for codeword(s) to betransmitted may be mapped onto one, two, or more layers. For spatialmultiplexing, layer mapping(s) may be performed according to pre-definedformula(s). The number of layers may be less than or equal to the numberof antenna port(s) used for transmission of physical uplink sharedchannel(s). The example of a single codeword mapped to multiple layersmay be applicable when the number of antenna port(s) used for PUSCH is,for example, four. For layer(s), the block of complex-valued symbols maybe divided into multiple sets, each corresponding to one SC-FDMA symbol.Transform precoding may be applied. For antenna port(s) used fortransmission of the PUSCH in a subframe, block(s) of complex-valuedsymbols may be multiplied with an amplitude scaling factor in order toconform to a required transmit power, and mapped in sequence to physicalresource block(s) on antenna port(s) and assigned for transmission ofPUSCH.

According to some of the various embodiments, data may arrive to thecoding unit in the form of two transport blocks every transmission timeinterval (TTI) per UL cell. The following coding actions may beidentified for transport block(s) of an uplink carrier: a) Add CRC tothe transport block, b) Code block segmentation and code block CRCattachment, c) Channel coding of data and control information, d) Ratematching, e) Code block concatenation. f) Multiplexing of data andcontrol information, g) Channel interleaver, h) Error detection may beprovided on UL-SCH (uplink shared channel) transport block(s) through aCyclic Redundancy Check (CRC), and/or the like. Transport block(s) maybe used to calculate CRC parity bits. Code block(s) may be delivered tochannel coding block(s). Code block(s) may be individually turboencoded. Turbo coded block(s) may be delivered to rate matchingblock(s).

Physical uplink control channel(s) (PUCCH) may carry uplink controlinformation. Simultaneous transmission of PUCCH and PUSCH from the sameUE may be supported if enabled by higher layers. For a type 2 framestructure, the PUCCH may not be transmitted in the UpPTS field. PUCCHmay use one resource block in each of the two slots in a subframe.Resources allocated to UE and PUCCH configuration(s) may be transmittedvia control messages. PUCCH may comprise: a) positive and negativeacknowledgements for data packets transmitted at least one downlinkcarrier, b) channel state information for at least one downlink carrier,c) scheduling request, and/or the like.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, cell search maybe the procedure by which a wireless device may acquire time andfrequency synchronization with a cell and may detect the physical layerCell ID of that cell (transmitter). An example embodiment forsynchronization signal and cell search is presented below. A cell searchmay support a scalable overall transmission bandwidth corresponding to 6resource blocks and upwards. Primary and secondary synchronizationsignals may be transmitted in the downlink and may facilitate cellsearch. For example, 504 unique physical-layer cell identities may bedefined using synchronization signals. The physical-layer cellidentities may be grouped into 168 unique physical-layer cell-identitygroups, group(s) containing three unique identities. The grouping may besuch that physical-layer cell identit(ies) is part of a physical-layercell-identity group. A physical-layer cell identity may be defined by anumber in the range of 0 to 167, representing the physical-layercell-identity group, and a number in the range of 0 to 2, representingthe physical-layer identity within the physical-layer cell-identitygroup. The synchronization signal may include a primary synchronizationsignal and a secondary synchronization signal.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the sequenceused for a primary synchronization signal may be generated from afrequency-domain Zadoff-Chu sequence according to a pre-defined formula.A Zadoff-Chu root sequence index may also be predefined in aspecification. The mapping of the sequence to resource elements maydepend on a frame structure. The wireless device may not assume that theprimary synchronization signal is transmitted on the same antenna portas any of the downlink reference signals. The wireless device may notassume that any transmission instance of the primary synchronizationsignal is transmitted on the same antenna port, or ports, used for anyother transmission instance of the primary synchronization signal. Thesequence may be mapped to the resource elements according to apredefined formula.

For FDD frame structure, a primary synchronization signal may be mappedto the last OFDM symbol in slots 0 and 10. For TDD frame structure, theprimary synchronization signal may be mapped to the third OFDM symbol insubframes 1 and 6. Some of the resource elements allocated to primary orsecondary synchronization signals may be reserved and not used fortransmission of the primary synchronization signal.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the sequenceused for a secondary synchronization signal may be an interleavedconcatenation of two length-31 binary sequences. The concatenatedsequence may be scrambled with a scrambling sequence given by a primarysynchronization signal. The combination of two length-31 sequencesdefining the secondary synchronization signal may differ betweensubframe 0 and subframe 5 according to predefined formula(s). Themapping of the sequence to resource elements may depend on the framestructure. In a subframe for FDD frame structure and in a half-frame forTDD frame structure, the same antenna port as for the primarysynchronization signal may be used for the secondary synchronizationsignal. The sequence may be mapped to resource elements according to apredefined formula.

Example embodiments for the physical channels configuration will now bepresented. Other examples may also be possible. A physical broadcastchannel may be scrambled with a cell-specific sequence prior tomodulation, resulting in a block of scrambled bits. PBCH may bemodulated using QPSK, and/or the like. The block of complex-valuedsymbols for antenna port(s) may be transmitted during consecutive radioframes, for example, four consecutive radio frames. In some embodimentsthe PBCH data may arrive to the coding unit in the form of a onetransport block every transmission time interval (TTI) of 40 ms. Thefollowing coding actions may be identified. Add CRC to the transportblock, channel coding, and rate matching. Error detection may beprovided on PBCH transport blocks through a Cyclic Redundancy Check(CRC). The transport block may be used to calculate the CRC parity bits.The parity bits may be computed and attached to the BCH (broadcastchannel) transport block. After the attachment, the CRC bits may bescrambled according to the transmitter transmit antenna configuration.Information bits may be delivered to the channel coding block and theymay be tail biting convolutionally encoded. A tail bitingconvolutionally coded block may be delivered to the rate matching block.The coded block may be rate matched before transmission.

A master information block may be transmitted in PBCH and may includesystem information transmitted on broadcast channel(s). The masterinformation block may include downlink bandwidth, system framenumber(s), and PHICH (physical hybrid-ARQ indicator channel)configuration. Downlink bandwidth may be the transmission bandwidthconfiguration, in terms of resource blocks in a downlink, for example 6may correspond to 6 resource blocks, 15 may correspond to 15 resourceblocks and so on. System frame number(s) may define the N (for exampleN=8) most significant bits of the system frame number. The M (forexample M=2) least significant bits of the SFN may be acquiredimplicitly in the PBCH decoding. For example, timing of a 40 ms PBCH TTImay indicate 2 least significant bits (within 40 ms PBCH TTI, the firstradio frame: 00, the second radio frame: 01, the third radio frame: 10,the last radio frame: 11). One value may apply for other carriers in thesame sector of a base station (the associated functionality is common(e.g. not performed independently for each cell). PHICH configuration(s)may include PHICH duration, which may be normal (e.g. one symbolduration) or extended (e.g. 3 symbol duration).

Physical control format indicator channel(s) (PCFICH) may carryinformation about the number of OFDM symbols used for transmission ofPDCCHs (physical downlink control channel) in a subframe. The set ofOFDM symbols possible to use for PDCCH in a subframe may depend on manyparameters including, for example, downlink carrier bandwidth, in termsof downlink resource blocks. PCFICH transmitted in one subframe may bescrambled with cell-specific sequence(s) prior to modulation, resultingin a block of scrambled bits. A scrambling sequence generator(s) may beinitialized at the start of subframe(s). Block (s) of scrambled bits maybe modulated using QPSK. Block(s) of modulation symbols may be mapped toat least one layer and precoded resulting in a block of vectorsrepresenting the signal for at least one antenna port. Instances ofPCFICH control channel(s) may indicate one of several (e.g. 3) possiblevalues after being decoded. The range of possible values of instance(s)of the first control channel may depend on the first carrier bandwidth.

According to some of the various embodiments, physical downlink controlchannel(s) may carry scheduling assignments and other controlinformation. The number of resource-elements not assigned to PCFICH orPHICH may be assigned to PDCCH. PDCCH may support multiple formats.Multiple PDCCH packets may be transmitted in a subframe. PDCCH may becoded by tail biting convolutionally encoder before transmission. PDCCHbits may be scrambled with a cell-specific sequence prior to modulation,resulting in block(s) of scrambled bits. Scrambling sequencegenerator(s) may be initialized at the start of subframe(s). Block(s) ofscrambled bits may be modulated using QPSK. Block(s) of modulationsymbols may be mapped to at least one layer and precoded resulting in ablock of vectors representing the signal for at least one antenna port.PDCCH may be transmitted on the same set of antenna ports as the PBCH,wherein PBCH is a physical broadcast channel broadcasting at least onebasic system information field.

According to some of the various embodiments, scheduling controlpacket(s) may be transmitted for packet(s) or group(s) of packetstransmitted in downlink shared channel(s). Scheduling control packet(s)may include information about subcarriers used for packettransmission(s). PDCCH may also provide power control commands foruplink channels. OFDM subcarriers that are allocated for transmission ofPDCCH may occupy the bandwidth of downlink carrier(s). PDCCH channel(s)may carry a plurality of downlink control packets in subframe(s). PDCCHmay be transmitted on downlink carrier(s) starting from the first OFDMsymbol of subframe(s), and may occupy up to multiple symbol duration(s)(e.g. 3 or 4).

According to some of the various embodiments, PHICH may carry thehybrid-ARQ (automatic repeat request) ACK/NACK. Multiple PHICHs mappedto the same set of resource elements may constitute a PHICH group, wherePHICHs within the same PHICH group may be separated through differentorthogonal sequences. PHICH resource(s) may be identified by the indexpair (group, sequence), where group(s) may be the PHICH group number(s)and sequence(s) may be the orthogonal sequence index within thegroup(s). For frame structure type 1, the number of PHICH groups maydepend on parameters from higher layers (RRC). For frame structure type2, the number of PHICH groups may vary between downlink subframesaccording to a pre-defined arrangement. Block(s) of bits transmitted onone PHICH in one subframe may be modulated using BPSK or QPSK, resultingin a block(s) of complex-valued modulation symbols. Block(s) ofmodulation symbols may be symbol-wise multiplied with an orthogonalsequence and scrambled, resulting in a sequence of modulation symbols

Other arrangements for PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, and/or PDSCH may besupported. The configurations presented here are for example purposes.In another example, resources PCFICH, PHICH, and/or PDCCH radioresources may be transmitted in radio resources including a subset ofsubcarriers and pre-defined time duration in each or some of thesubframes. In an example, PUSCH resource(s) may start from the firstsymbol. In another example embodiment, radio resource configuration(s)for PUSCH, PUCCH, and/or PRACH (physical random access channel) may usea different configuration. For example, channels may be timemultiplexed, or time/frequency multiplexed when mapped to uplink radioresources.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the physicallayer random access preamble may comprise a cyclic prefix of length Tcpand a sequence part of length Tseq. The parameter values may bepre-defined and depend on the frame structure and a random accessconfiguration. In an example embodiment, Tcp may be 0.1 msec, and Tseqmay be 0.9 msec. Higher layers may control the preamble format. Thetransmission of a random access preamble, if triggered by the MAC layer,may be restricted to certain time and frequency resources. The start ofa random access preamble may be aligned with the start of thecorresponding uplink subframe at a wireless device.

According to an example embodiment, random access preambles may begenerated from Zadoff-Chu sequences with a zero correlation zone,generated from one or several root Zadoff-Chu sequences. In anotherexample embodiment, the preambles may also be generated using otherrandom sequences such as Gold sequences. The network may configure theset of preamble sequences a wireless device may be allowed to use.According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, there may be amultitude of preambles (e.g. 64) available in cell(s). From the physicallayer perspective, the physical layer random access procedure mayinclude the transmission of random access preamble(s) and random accessresponse(s). Remaining message(s) may be scheduled for transmission by ahigher layer on the shared data channel and may not be considered partof the physical layer random access procedure. For example, a randomaccess channel may occupy 6 resource blocks in a subframe or set ofconsecutive subframes reserved for random access preamble transmissions.

According to some of the various embodiments, the following actions maybe followed for a physical random access procedure: 1) layer 1 proceduremay be triggered upon request of a preamble transmission by higherlayers; 2) a preamble index, a target preamble received power, acorresponding RA-RNTI (random access-radio network temporary identifier)and/or a PRACH resource may be indicated by higher layers as part of arequest; 3) a preamble transmission power P_PRACH may be determined; 4)a preamble sequence may be selected from the preamble sequence set usingthe preamble index; 5) a single preamble may be transmitted usingselected preamble sequence(s) with transmission power P_PRACH on theindicated PRACH resource; 6) detection of a PDCCH with the indicated RARmay be attempted during a window controlled by higher layers; and/or thelike. If detected, the corresponding downlink shared channel transportblock may be passed to higher layers. The higher layers may parsetransport block(s) and/or indicate an uplink grant to the physicallayer(s).

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, a random accessprocedure may be initiated by a physical downlink control channel(PDCCH) order and/or by the MAC sublayer in a wireless device. If awireless device receives a PDCCH transmission consistent with a PDCCHorder masked with its radio identifier, the wireless device may initiatea random access procedure. Preamble transmission(s) on physical randomaccess channel(s) (PRACH) may be supported on a first uplink carrier andreception of a PDCCH order may be supported on a first downlink carrier.

Before a wireless device initiates transmission of a random accesspreamble, it may access one or many of the following types ofinformation: a) available set(s) of PRACH resources for the transmissionof a random access preamble; b) group(s) of random access preambles andset(s) of available random access preambles in group(s); c) randomaccess response window size(s); d) power-ramping factor(s); e) maximumnumber(s) of preamble transmission(s); f) initial preamble power; g)preamble format based offset(s); h) contention resolution timer(s);and/or the like. These parameters may be updated from upper layers ormay be received from the base station before random access procedure(s)may be initiated.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, a wirelessdevice may select a random access preamble using available information.The preamble may be signaled by a base station or the preamble may berandomly selected by the wireless device. The wireless device maydetermine the next available subframe containing PRACH permitted byrestrictions given by the base station and the physical layer timingrequirements for TDD or FDD. Subframe timing and the timing oftransmitting the random access preamble may be determined based, atleast in part, on synchronization signals received from the base stationand/or the information received from the base station. The wirelessdevice may proceed to the transmission of the random access preamblewhen it has determined the timing. The random access preamble may betransmitted on a second plurality of subcarriers on the first uplinkcarrier.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, once a randomaccess preamble is transmitted, a wireless device may monitor the PDCCHof a first downlink carrier for random access response(s), in a randomaccess response window. There may be a pre-known identifier in PDCCHthat identifies a random access response. The wireless device may stopmonitoring for random access response(s) after successful reception of arandom access response containing random access preamble identifiersthat matches the transmitted random access preamble and/or a randomaccess response address to a wireless device identifier. A base stationrandom access response may include a time alignment command. Thewireless device may process the received time alignment command and mayadjust its uplink transmission timing according the time alignment valuein the command. For example, in a random access response, a timealignment command may be coded using 11 bits, where an amount of thetime alignment may be based on the value in the command. In an exampleembodiment, when an uplink transmission is required, the base stationmay provide the wireless device a grant for uplink transmission.

If no random access response is received within the random accessresponse window, and/or if none of the received random access responsescontains a random access preamble identifier corresponding to thetransmitted random access preamble, the random access response receptionmay be considered unsuccessful and the wireless device may, based on thebackoff parameter in the wireless device, select a random backoff timeand delay the subsequent random access transmission by the backoff time,and may retransmit another random access preamble.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, a wirelessdevice may transmit packets on an uplink carrier. Uplink packettransmission timing may be calculated in the wireless device using thetiming of synchronization signal(s) received in a downlink. Uponreception of a timing alignment command by the wireless device, thewireless device may adjust its uplink transmission timing. The timingalignment command may indicate the change of the uplink timing relativeto the current uplink timing. The uplink transmission timing for anuplink carrier may be determined using time alignment commands and/ordownlink reference signals.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, a timealignment command may indicate timing adjustment for transmission ofsignals on uplink carriers. For example, a time alignment command mayuse 6 bits. Adjustment of the uplink timing by a positive or a negativeamount indicates advancing or delaying the uplink transmission timing bya given amount respectively.

For a timing alignment command received on subframe n, the correspondingadjustment of the timing may be applied with some delay, for example, itmay be applied from the beginning of subframe n+6. When the wirelessdevice's uplink transmissions in subframe n and subframe n+1 areoverlapped due to the timing adjustment, the wireless device maytransmit complete subframe n and may not transmit the overlapped part ofsubframe n+1.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, a wirelessdevice may include a configurable timer (timeAlignmentTimer) that may beused to control how long the wireless device is considered uplink timealigned. When a timing alignment command MAC control element isreceived, the wireless device may apply the timing alignment command andstart or restart timeAlignmentTimer. The wireless device may not performany uplink transmission except the random access preamble transmissionwhen timeAlignmentTimer is not running or when it exceeds its limit. Thetime alignment command may substantially align frame and subframereception timing of a first uplink carrier and at least one additionaluplink carrier. According to some of the various aspects of embodiments,the time alignment command value range employed during a random accessprocess may be substantially larger than the time alignment commandvalue range during active data transmission. In an example embodiment,uplink transmission timing may be maintained on a per time alignmentgroup (TAG) basis. Carrier(s) may be grouped in TAGs, and TAG(s) mayhave their own downlink timing reference, time alignment timer, and/ortime alignment commands. Group(s) may have their own random accessprocess. Time alignment commands may be directed to a time alignmentgroup. The TAG, including the primary cell may be called a primary TAG(pTAG) and the TAG not including the primary cell may be called asecondary TAG (sTAG).

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, controlmessage(s) or control packet(s) may be scheduled for transmission in aphysical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and/or physical uplink sharedchannel PUSCH. PDSCH and PUSCH may carry control and datamessage(s)/packet(s). Control message(s) and/or packet(s) may beprocessed before transmission. For example, the control message(s)and/or packet(s) may be fragmented or multiplexed before transmission. Acontrol message in an upper layer may be processed as a data packet inthe MAC or physical layer. For example, system information block(s) aswell as data traffic may be scheduled for transmission in PDSCH. Datapacket(s) may be encrypted packets.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, data packet(s)may be encrypted before transmission to secure packet(s) from unwantedreceiver(s). Desired recipient(s) may be able to decrypt the packet(s).A first plurality of data packet(s) and/or a second plurality of datapacket(s) may be encrypted using an encryption key and at least oneparameter that may change substantially rapidly over time. Theencryption mechanism may provide a transmission that may not be easilyeavesdropped by unwanted receivers. The encryption mechanism may includeadditional parameter(s) in an encryption module that changessubstantially rapidly in time to enhance the security mechanism. Examplevarying parameter(s) may comprise various types of system counter(s),such as system frame number. Substantially rapidly may for example implychanging on a per subframe, frame, or group of subframes basis.Encryption may be provided by a PDCP layer between the transmitter andreceiver, and/or may be provided by the application layer. Additionaloverhead added to packet(s) by lower layers such as RLC, MAC, and/orPhysical layer may not be encrypted before transmission. In thereceiver, the plurality of encrypted data packet(s) may be decryptedusing a first decryption key and at least one first parameter. Theplurality of data packet(s) may be decrypted using an additionalparameter that changes substantially rapidly over time.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, a wirelessdevice may be preconfigured with one or more carriers. When the wirelessdevice is configured with more than one carrier, the base station and/orwireless device may activate and/or deactivate the configured carriers.One of the carriers (the primary carrier) may always be activated. Othercarriers may be deactivated by default and/or may be activated by a basestation when needed. A base station may activate and deactivate carriersby sending an activation/deactivation MAC control element. Furthermore,the UE may maintain a carrier deactivation timer per configured carrierand deactivate the associated carrier upon its expiry. The same initialtimer value may apply to instance(s) of the carrier deactivation timer.The initial value of the timer may be configured by a network. Theconfigured carriers (unless the primary carrier) may be initiallydeactivated upon addition and after a handover.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, if a wirelessdevice receives an activation/deactivation MAC control elementactivating the carrier, the wireless device may activate the carrier,and/or may apply normal carrier operation including: sounding referencesignal transmissions on the carrier, CQI (channel quality indicator)/PMI(precoding matrix indicator)/RI (ranking indicator) reporting for thecarrier, PDCCH monitoring on the carrier, PDCCH monitoring for thecarrier, start or restart the carrier deactivation timer associated withthe carrier, and/or the like. If the device receives anactivation/deactivation MAC control element deactivating the carrier,and/or if the carrier deactivation timer associated with the activatedcarrier expires, the base station or device may deactivate the carrier,and may stop the carrier deactivation timer associated with the carrier,and/or may flush HARQ buffers associated with the carrier.

If PDCCH on a carrier scheduling the activated carrier indicates anuplink grant or a downlink assignment for the activated carrier, thedevice may restart the carrier deactivation timer associated with thecarrier. When a carrier is deactivated, the wireless device may nottransmit SRS (sounding reference signal) for the carrier, may not reportCQI/PMI/RI for the carrier, may not transmit on UL-SCH for the carrier,may not monitor the PDCCH on the carrier, and/or may not monitor thePDCCH for the carrier.

A process to assign subcarriers to data packets may be executed by a MAClayer scheduler. The decision on assigning subcarriers to a packet maybe made based on data packet size, resources required for transmissionof data packets (number of radio resource blocks), modulation and codingassigned to data packet(s), QoS required by the data packets (i.e. QoSparameters assigned to data packet bearer), the service class of asubscriber receiving the data packet, or subscriber device capability, acombination of the above, and/or the like.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, packets may bereferred to service data units and/or protocols data units at Layer 1,Layer 2 and/or Layer 3 of the communications network. Layer 2 in an LTEnetwork may include three sub-layers: PDCP sub-layer, RLC sub-layer, andMAC sub-layer. A layer 2 packet may be a PDCP packet, an RLC packet or aMAC layer packet. Layer 3 in an LTE network may be Internet Protocol(IP) layer, and a layer 3 packet may be an IP data packet. Packets maybe transmitted and received via an air interface physical layer. Apacket at the physical layer may be called a transport block. Many ofthe various embodiments may be implemented at one or many differentcommunication network layers. For example, some of the actions may beexecuted by the PDCP layer and some others by the MAC layer.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, subcarriersand/or resource blocks may comprise a plurality of physical subcarriersand/or resource blocks. In another example embodiment, subcarriers maybe a plurality of virtual and/or logical subcarriers and/or resourceblocks.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, a radio bearermay be a GBR (guaranteed bit rate) bearer and/or a non-GBR bearer. A GBRand/or guaranteed bit rate bearer may be employed for transfer ofreal-time packets, and/or a non-GBR bearer may be used for transfer ofnon-real-time packets. The non-GBR bearer may be assigned a plurality ofattributes including: a scheduling priority, an allocation and retentionpriority, a portable device aggregate maximum bit rate, and/or the like.These parameters may be used by the scheduler in scheduling non-GBRpackets. GBR bearers may be assigned attributes such as delay, jitter,packet loss parameters, and/or the like.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, subcarriers mayinclude data subcarrier symbols and pilot subcarrier symbols. Pilotsymbols may not carry user data, and may be included in the transmissionto help the receiver to perform synchronization, channel estimationand/or signal quality detection. Base stations and wireless devices(wireless receiver) may use different methods to generate and transmitpilot symbols along with information symbols.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the transmitterin the disclosed embodiments of the present invention may be a wirelessdevice (also called user equipment), a base station (also calledeNodeB), a relay node transmitter, and/or the like. The receiver in thedisclosed embodiments of the present invention may be a wireless device(also called user equipment-UE), a base station (also called eNodeB), arelay node receiver, and/or the like. According to some of the variousaspects of embodiments of the present invention, layer 1 (physicallayer) may be based on OFDMA or SC-FDMA. Time may be divided intoframe(s) with fixed duration. Frame(s) may be divided into substantiallyequally sized subframes, and subframe(s) may be divided intosubstantially equally sized slot(s). A plurality of OFDM or SC-FDMAsymbol(s) may be transmitted in slot(s). OFDMA or SC-FDMA symbol(s) maybe grouped into resource block(s). A scheduler may assign resource(s) inresource block unit(s), and/or a group of resource block unit(s).Physical resource block(s) may be resources in the physical layer, andlogical resource block(s) may be resource block(s) used by the MAClayer. Similar to virtual and physical subcarriers, resource block(s)may be mapped from logical to physical resource block(s). Logicalresource block(s) may be contiguous, but corresponding physical resourceblock(s) may be non-contiguous. Some of the various embodiments of thepresent invention may be implemented at the physical or logical resourceblock level(s).

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, layer 2transmission may include PDCP (packet data convergence protocol), RLC(radio link control), MAC (media access control) sub-layers, and/or thelike. MAC may be responsible for the multiplexing and mapping of logicalchannels to transport channels and vice versa. A MAC layer may performchannel mapping, scheduling, random access channel procedures, uplinktiming maintenance, and/or the like.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the MAC layermay map logical channel(s) carrying RLC PDUs (packet data unit) totransport channel(s). For transmission, multiple SDUs (service dataunit) from logical channel(s) may be mapped to the Transport Block (TB)to be sent over transport channel(s). For reception, TBs from transportchannel(s) may be demultiplexed and assigned to corresponding logicalchannel(s). The MAC layer may perform scheduling related function(s) inboth the uplink and downlink and thus may be responsible for transportformat selection associated with transport channel(s). This may includeHARQ functionality. Since scheduling may be done at the base station,the MAC layer may be responsible for reporting scheduling relatedinformation such as UE (user equipment or wireless device) bufferoccupancy and power headroom. It may also handle prioritization fromboth an inter-UE and intra-UE logical channel perspective. MAC may alsobe responsible for random access procedure(s) for the uplink that may beperformed following either a contention and non-contention basedprocess. UE may need to maintain timing synchronization with cell(s).The MAC layer may perform procedure(s) for periodic synchronization.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the MAC layermay be responsible for the mapping of multiple logical channel(s) totransport channel(s) during transmission(s), and demultiplexing andmapping of transport channel data to logical channel(s) duringreception. A MAC PDU may include of a header that describes the formatof the PDU itself, which may include control element(s), SDUs, Padding,and/or the like. The header may be composed of multiple sub-headers, onefor constituent part(s) of the MAC PDU. The MAC may also operate in atransparent mode, where no header may be pre-pended to the PDU.Activation command(s) may be inserted into packet(s) using a MAC controlelement.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, the MAC layerin some wireless device(s) may report buffer size(s) of either a singleLogical Channel Group (LCG) or a group of LCGs to a base station. An LCGmay be a group of logical channels identified by an LCG ID. The mappingof logical channel(s) to LCG may be set up during radio configuration.Buffer status report(s) may be used by a MAC scheduler to assign radioresources for packet transmission from wireless device(s). HARQ and ARQprocesses may be used for packet retransmission to enhance thereliability of radio transmission and reduce the overall probability ofpacket loss.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, an RLCsub-layer may control the applicability and functionality of errorcorrection, concatenation, segmentation, re-segmentation, duplicatedetection, in-sequence delivery, and/or the like. Other functions of RLCmay include protocol error detection and recovery, and/or SDU discard.The RLC sub-layer may receive data from upper layer radio bearer(s)(signaling and data) called service data unit(s) (SDU). The transmissionentities in the RLC layer may convert RLC SDUs to RLC PDU afterperforming functions such as segmentation, concatenation, adding RLCheader(s), and/or the like. In the other direction, receiving entitiesmay receive RLC PDUs from the MAC layer. After performing reordering,the PDUs may be assembled back into RLC SDUs and delivered to the upperlayer. RLC interaction with a MAC layer may include: a) data transferfor uplink and downlink through logical channel(s); b) MAC notifies RLCwhen a transmission opportunity becomes available, including the size oftotal number of RLC PDUs that may be transmitted in the currenttransmission opportunity, and/or c) the MAC entity at the transmittermay inform RLC at the transmitter of HARQ transmission failure.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, PDCP (packetdata convergence protocol) may comprise a layer 2 sub-layer on top ofRLC sub-layer. The PDCP may be responsible for a multitude of functions.First, the PDCP layer may transfer user plane and control plane data toand from upper layer(s). PDCP layer may receive SDUs from upper layer(s)and may send PDUs to the lower layer(s). In other direction, PDCP layermay receive PDUs from the lower layer(s) and may send SDUs to upperlayer(s). Second, the PDCP may be responsible for security functions. Itmay apply ciphering (encryption) for user and control plane bearers, ifconfigured. It may also perform integrity protection for control planebearer(s), if configured. Third, the PDCP may perform header compressionservice(s) to improve the efficiency of over the air transmission. Theheader compression may be based on robust header compression (ROHC).ROHC may be performed on VOIP packets. Fourth, the PDCP may beresponsible for in-order delivery of packet(s) and duplicate detectionservice(s) to upper layer(s) after handover(s). After handover, thesource base station may transfer unacknowledged packet(s)s to targetbase station when operating in RLC acknowledged mode (AM). The targetbase station may forward packet(s)s received from the source basestation to the UE (user equipment).

In this specification, “a” and “an” and similar phrases are to beinterpreted as “at least one” and “one or more.” In this specification,the term “may” is to be interpreted as “may, for example,” In otherwords, the term “may” is indicative that the phrase following the term“may” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities thatmay, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments.

Many of the elements described in the disclosed embodiments may beimplemented as modules. A module is defined here as an isolatableelement that performs a defined function and has a defined interface toother elements. The modules described in this disclosure may beimplemented in hardware, software in combination with hardware,firmware, wetware (i.e hardware with a biological element) or acombination thereof, all of which are behaviorally equivalent. Forexample, modules may be implemented as a software routine written in acomputer language configured to be executed by a hardware machine (suchas C, C++, Fortran, Java, Basic, Matlab or the like) or amodeling/simulation program such as Simulink, Stateflow, GNU Octave, orLabVIEWMathScript. Additionally, it may be possible to implement modulesusing physical hardware that incorporates discrete or programmableanalog, digital and/or quantum hardware. Examples of programmablehardware comprise: computers, microcontrollers, microprocessors,application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs); field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs); and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs).Computers, microcontrollers and microprocessors are programmed usinglanguages such as assembly, C, C++ or the like. FPGAs, ASICs and CPLDsare often programmed using hardware description languages (HDL) such asVHSIC hardware description language (VHDL) or Verilog that configureconnections between internal hardware modules with lesser functionalityon a programmable device. Finally, it needs to be emphasized that theabove mentioned technologies are often used in combination to achievethe result of a functional module.

The disclosure of this patent document incorporates material which issubject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection tothe facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Officepatent file or records, for the limited purposes required by law, butotherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example, and notlimitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevantart(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope. In fact, after reading theabove description, it will be apparent to one skilled in the relevantart(s) how to implement alternative embodiments. Thus, the presentembodiments should not be limited by any of the above describedexemplary embodiments. In particular, it should be noted that, forexample purposes, the above explanation has focused on the example(s)using FDD communication systems. However, one skilled in the art willrecognize that embodiments of the invention may also be implemented inTDD communication systems. The disclosed methods and systems may beimplemented in wireless or wireline systems. The features of variousembodiments presented in this invention may be combined. One or manyfeatures (method or system) of one embodiment may be implemented inother embodiments. Only a limited number of example combinations areshown to indicate to one skilled in the art the possibility of featuresthat may be combined in various embodiments to create enhancedtransmission and reception systems and methods.

In addition, it should be understood that any figures which highlightthe functionality and advantages, are presented for example purposesonly. The disclosed architecture is sufficiently flexible andconfigurable, such that it may be utilized in ways other than thatshown. For example, the actions listed in any flowchart may bere-ordered or only optionally used in some embodiments.

Further, the purpose of the Abstract of the Disclosure is to enable theU.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, andespecially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art whoare not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determinequickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of thetechnical disclosure of the application. The Abstract of the Disclosureis not intended to be limiting as to the scope in any way.

Finally, it is the applicant's intent that only claims that include theexpress language “means for” or “step for” be interpreted under 35U.S.C. 112, paragraph 6. Claims that do not expressly include the phrase“means for” or “step for” are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112,paragraph 6.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving first datafrom one or more transmitters located in an automobile; transmitting arandom access preamble on an uplink carrier to a base station when apre-defined condition is met based, at least in part, on the first dataor a value of an internal timer or a user input; receiving a timealignment command from the base station in response to transmitting therandom access preamble; adjusting uplink signal transmission timing ofthe uplink carrier according to the time alignment command;transmitting, to the base station over a non-guaranteed bit rate(non-GBR) bearer, a first message destined for a server in acommunication network, the first message being configured to triggerestablishment of a connection to the server; receiving, from the basestation over the non-GBR bearer, a second message originating from theserver, the second message being configured to cause transmission of thefirst data to the server; encrypting the first data; and transmittingthe encrypted first data to the base station employing an establishednon-guaranteed bit rate bearer, wherein the base station is configuredto decrypt the first data before forwarding the first data to the serverin a communication network.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thetransmission timing of the random access preamble is determined based,at least in part, on a synchronization signal received from the basestation.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving randomaccess parameters from the base station, the random access parametersbeing employed for generating the random access preamble.
 4. The methodof claim 1, further comprising receiving an Internet protocol addressfrom the base station over a downlink carrier before transmitting thefirst data, the downlink carrier corresponding to the uplink carrier. 5.A method comprising: receiving first data from one or more transmitterslocated in an automobile; transmitting a random access preamble on anuplink carrier to a base station when a pre-defined condition is metbased on at least one of the following: the first data; a value of aninternal timer; and a user input; transmitting, to the base station overa non-guaranteed bit rate (non-GBR) bearer, a first message destined fora server in a communication network, the first message being configuredto trigger establishment of a connection to the server; receiving, fromthe base station over the non-GBR bearer, a second message originatingfrom the server, the second message being configured to causetransmission of the first data to the server; encrypting the first data;and transmitting, to the base station, the encrypted first data, thebase station being configured to decrypt the first data beforeforwarding the first data to the server.
 6. The method of claim 5,further comprising receiving at least a part of the first data via ashort range wireless technology.
 7. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising storing, by a wireless device: a first network address of theserver; and a second network address of an automobile device.
 8. Themethod of claim 5, wherein: the first message is encrypted using a firstencryption key; the first data is encrypted using the first encryptionkey; and the second message is encrypted using a second encryption keydifferent from the first encryption key.
 9. The method of claim 5,further comprising receiving a control message on a first data channelon a downlink carrier before establishing the non-GBR bearer, thecontrol message establishing a first signaling bearer, the firstsignaling bearer being established on the downlink carrier and theuplink carrier.
 10. The method of claim 5, wherein the second message isdestined to one of the one or more transmitters.
 11. A methodcomprising: receiving signals via a first short range wirelesstechnology from one or more transmitters in an automobile; transmittinga random access preamble on an uplink carrier to a base station when apre-defined condition is met based on at least one of: the receivedsignals; a value of an internal timer; and a user input; transmitting,to the base station over a non-guaranteed bit rate (non-GBR) bearer, afirst message destined to a server in a communication network, the firstmessage being configured to trigger establishment of a connection to theserver; receiving, from the base station over the non-GBR bearer, asecond message originating from the server, wherein the second messagebeing configured to cause transmission of first data to the server;receiving and encrypting first data from the one or more transmitters;and transmitting, the encrypted first data to the base station, the basestation being configured to decrypt the first data before forwarding thefirst data to the server.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein thetransmission timing of the random access preamble is determined based,at least in part, on a synchronization signal received from the basestation.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or moretransmitters comprise a display and receive the user input.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the one or more transmitters monitorautomobile conditions comprising at least one of: a tire air pressure;an engine condition; an automobile fluid condition; a temperature; atype of road driven; and a safety equipment status.
 15. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the one or more transmitters monitor automobileconditions comprising automobile environmental parameters comprising atleast one of: an environment temperature; an environmental chemicalparameter; an environmental nuclear parameter; an environment humidity;an environment electromagnetic energy density; and an environmentparticle density.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein the serveranalyzes the first data to determine a risk factor for the automobile, apossible issue with the automobile, or a required service for theautomobile.
 17. The method of claim 11, wherein: the server receives thefirst data from a plurality of automobile devices, wherein eachautomobile device is installed in a different automobile; and the serveranalyzes the first data from the plurality of automobile devices todetermine a parameter related to a plurality of drivers, a parameterrelated to the plurality of automobiles, or a parameter related to anenvironment from which the first data is received.
 18. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the second message is destined to one of the one ormore transmitters.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein the serverreceives one or more location information and one or more time-stampswith the first data.
 20. The method of claim 11, further comprisingstoring, by a wireless device: a first network address of the server;and a second network address of an automobile device.